I really need to thank Ken Paxton

[Bucky]

I'm teaching landmark Supreme Court cases to my high school government classes right (before we do Final Reviews for next week). And the students are so attentive to the discussion about the evolution of precedents from Roe v Wade to Dobbs v Jackson to the current case against Kate Cox, who Paxton is trying to kill or sexually mutilate (whichever his god of arbitrary pawnsmanship wills).

Of course as a teacher I always make every concerted effort to conceal my biases and only present the relevant facts. But for some reason this particular discussion is really riveting their attention. They seem to think Paxton is acting recklessly with regard to a citizen's life and health and health needs. Although I remain dispassionate, the students seem downright outraged by this use of governmental power and genuinely engaged in the lesson--yes even that devout kid in the front row who was so adamantly pro-life when we discussed ideology alignments last month. So I owe my state's attorney-general a thank you today.

Couldn't have done it without you, Ken.

[walkingman]

1. Good for you!! Do you feel threatened by your administrators in any way for

this? I know there is a war against anyone that dare question anything that is not approved by the right these days.

Be careful, these people can be nasty.

[Bucky]

6. (1) it's never reached into the classroom for me and (2) I'm serious about being ruthlessly objective.

And honestly, I don't want to influence anyone's ideology, especially not my students'. I'm hear to teach them to to learn and think critically, and to be skeptical of all human endeavors.

[Deuxcents]

2. And these kids will be voting soon and hopefully change their lives

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Hope you're not in Texas.

I would imagine the Republican solution would be to ban any discussion relating to "pro-life" laws or their enforcement.

[Bucky]

7. Yep and nope

Yes, I'm a Texas teacher. And no, no one's banning me from teaching governmental issues in my government class.

I always comply with rules about being apolitical. It'd be seriously wrong for me to abuse my influence over them. William F Buckley's ghost could come into my classroom and would never raise a boo of concern. I want my kiddos to think for themselves.

[TwilightZone]

15. Critical thinking is a lost art.

There was a big push in the 80s (Reagan) to eliminate it from the teaching process, and it seems like it's been going downhill ever since.

We'd be a much better country if everyone's goal was to teach kids how to think for themselves and approach things with a critical eye.

Keep up the good work.

[TwilightZone]

14. A lot of the talk about Texas education standards is overblown.

Issues like trying to redefine slavery get a lot of headlines, but what's rarely reported is that the TX Board of Education usually blocks them from being enabled.

Example: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/30/texas-slavery-involuntary-relocation/

In some cases, the issues were introduced by the publishers and not the TX BoE or Republican lawmakers, etc.

https://apnews.com/general-news-ce1eaa40c7504c9d8e772241f07d6965

That's not to say that Republicans aren't trying to redefine history. They quite certainly are. But many of the high-profile stories about ridiculousness making its way into the textbooks are often exaggerated or leave out context.

[ShazzieB]

19. This is good to know!

[czarjak]

4. Show thyself, Kenny.

People are paying attention. Finally.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. Usually, facts reveal the monsters and decent people are appalled.

[Hekate]

8. Imagine: teaching kids to think critically! Kudos to you

[ananda]

9. Thank you! Getting the young people engaged in politics...

is so important!!!!!

[Bucky]

10. You're welcome. Next semester I'll be encouraging them to get involved economically

And that may well be an ever more important field where we need to act to improve our world. Especially this century.

[KS Toronado]

11. If our entire population feels the way your classroom students do

We should be looking at a BIG BLUE WAVE come election time if we get the messaging right.

[surfered]

12. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton...

…has sued the Biden Administration over 50 times, not counting his suit to overturn the 2020 election.

But he’s just following the playbook of Gov Abbott who, as Attorney General, sued the Obama Administration over and over again.

Both used Texas taxpayers’ money filing these lawsuits to build street-cred as anti-libtard politicians. Sadly, that strategy works here in redneckistan.

Texas is turning purple, but we’re not there yet. President Johnson was correct in predicting the Civil Rights Act would cost Democrats for generations.

[Bucky]

13. You got me wonder.... ARE we really drifting purpleward in Texas?

The governor vote totals have been

2022: 54.8-43.9 %
2018: 55.8-42.5 %
2014: 59.3-38.9 %
2010: 55.0-42.3 %
2006: 39.0-29.8 % (18.1%) (12.4 %) - God bless Kinky and his naive little big ego
2002: 57.8-40.0 %
1998: 68.2-31.2 %
1994: 53.5-45.9 %

I'm not seeing a trend here, except that when there's a Democrat in the White House, the nutscrews ooze out of the woodwork.

[summer_in_TX]

22. Abbott seems to have masterful control of the narrative/

I don't feel optimistic here. His shipping immigrants off to liberal cities is well-liked by many (sticking it to the libs). The media (especially Spanish-language broadcasters) are in the pocket of Republicans. Sinclair Broadcasting owns six television stations in Texas. The bias on their airwaves is palpable. Their coverage of the Texas Legislature carries their slant. They require their on-air talent to broadcast mandatory content. During the 2020 election, they had opinion from Boris Ephsteyn before the first commercial, then a "liberal" opinion after the commercial.

Nexstar Media Group usually isn't quite as blatant as Sinclair. They own 12 stations in Texas.

Then there's Spanish-language TV and radio.

And of course conservative talk radio and Christian talk radio are widespread.

These shape how people think about the issues. We don't have easy ways to get our messaging out, and it's not being heard here.

[surfered]

25. I think Governor Abbott is an outlier....

...he's really had no competition. But look at the recent historical presidential elections Democratic percentage:

2000 38.0%
2004 38.2%
2008 43.7%
2012 41.4%
2016 43.2%
2020 46.5%

I think Collin Allred has a chance to beat Ted Cruz, because everybody hates Ted Cruz.

[spanone]

16. K&R

[japple]

17. It's probably due to your stellar teaching abilitiy. You have been able to present these issues to your

Last edited Thu Dec 14, 2023, 09:52 PM - Edit history (1)

students in a way that inspires critical thinking on this very weighty subject. Your students will be thanking you one day. Congratulations!!!

ETA: This comes from one who had a high school history teacher tell her students in 1966-67: "Don't let anyone tell you that the slaves had it so bad...why, they had plenty of fresh air and sunshine." It stung me back then and has stuck in my craw ever since.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Good for you

[SheilaAnn]

20. Give them all A's...n/t

[Beartracks]

21. Thank you for your service.

You're doing at least 2 things I could not: teach a classroom of kids, and remain dispassionate!

===============

[LittleGirl]

23. This topic is important to them

Because they can relate to it. It very well could affect their life at some point.
My own sister in law went through this very type of thing.

If those boys got a girl pregnant, they will have to help pay for it, Or should!

We must continue to show how women are made responsible for their situation even though it takes a male to get her pregnant! Someday I hope men are made responsible for their actions.

My nieces just finished high school and they are very active in politics even before they could vote. They are in university now.

Thanks for sharing!

[Timeflyer]

24. You are making the world a better place, now and in the future. Thoughtful teachers rule!

[Grins]

26. Often said the same thing when the Reich does crap like this.

The moment I found out Trump was elected I was: "Just wait for the people to find out who they elected," and it didn't take long!!

That was also the moment I KNEW Trump and the GOP would lose in 2018.
And lose again in 2020!
The mountain of atrocities would drive more people to the poles than ever - and it did.

When I saw early and new registrations for voting were up in 2018 and 2020 - I knew.
When I saw the huge lines of voters in Wisconsin while in the cold and wet - I knew.
When the early voting ballots were coming in the greatest numbers ever - I knew.

And then there was Dobbs.
Making Republican policies real!
And the 10-year old in Ohio.
And the book/banning and burning.

No one in their right mind thought the judge in Texas was wrong.
And then came Paxton!! Who again made Republican's sordid policies real!

It was so easy: Just let Republicans be Republicans!

[question everything]

27. Will they be old enough to vote next November?

[Upthevibe]

28. Bucky.......

Thank you for the work you're doing!

Thank you for this post!

[pwb]

29. Two teachers in my family

Teaching the same way. Proud of them and you.

[LymphocyteLover]

30. He's truly horrible but I will thank him for the extra motivation to vote out anti-abortionists

His victim may well be our rallying cry for victory in Nov 2024

[Bucky]

31. hey're not exhausting their supply of horribleness

Cases like this are only the instances that bubble to the surface. There's untapped volumes of mean spirited behavior that aren't getting into the news yet.

We definitely owe it to the country to get as many of those a-holes out of office as soon as democratically as we can

[LymphocyteLover]

32. yes, absolutely!